I have absolutely no idea when I decided to “opt in” the TransUnion Class Action Lawsuit, but a couple days ago I received my settlement.
TransUnion Class Action Lawsuit
Apparently, TransUnion was a bad credit monitoring agency and allegedly violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Specifically, Plaintiffs claimed that TransUnion sold private information which it wasn’t allowed to sell.
This suit was a Class Action, which, according to Class Action World is,
A Class Action is a civil lawsuit brought on behalf of many people who have been harmed in a similar manner. A class action cannot be prosecuted unless at least one person harmed by the conduct is willing to serve as a class representative (Lead Plaintiff).
There is a much better definition on Wikipedia, but it is technical and starts quoting Federal Procedure Code, so we will go with the one above.
As part of the Settlement I was given the following options:
- File an individual lawsuit against Defendant(s) for claims related to target marketing and prescreening: You can also signup for six months of credit monitoring.
- Sign up for six months of credit monitoring services: You can also register to receive a possible cash payment in the event of a cash distribution or file an individual lawsuit against the Defendants.
- Sign up for nine months of enhanced credit monitoring services: You will not receive any further benefits, including a cash payment, and you will not be able to file an individual lawsuit against the Defendants.
- Register to receive a possible cash payment: You can also sign up for six months of credit monitoring; however if you receive a cash payment, you cannot file an individual lawsuit against the Defendants.
- Do Nothing: You won’t get any benefits. You will keep your right to sue the Defendants individually (see the detailed notice and Settlement Agreement for more information).
I will be completely honest – I have no Idea which one I chose, but considering I received the below e-mail and I like to think I know myself, I chose some sort of monitoring option.
As part of the settlement I received the following e-mail:
Dear Class Member:
As part of the terms of your Class Action Settlement with TransUnion, you’ve received a nine month enhanced subscription to TransUnion Credit Monitoring, fulfilled by TrueCredit. Register now and start enjoying the benefits of credit monitoring right away! You’ll get:
The ability to lock your credit report so third parties, such as lenders or other companies, will not be able to access your credit report without your consent (unless allowed by law);
Unlimited daily access to your Trans Union credit report and credit score;
Credit monitoring with email notification of critical changes to your credit report;
A suite of insurance scores; and
A mortgage simulator service.
Ready to get started?
Your registration number is <XXXXXXXXX>. Be sure to enroll soon as your registration number is only available for a limited time.
Just click here and enter your registration number and you’ll be on your way to credit monitoring!
Sincerely,
TransUnion List Class Action
Settlement Administration
Do not respond directly to this e-mail, as this inbox is not monitored.
Well it was relatively simple to register for the class action settlement, and boom I had access to my credit score from TransUnion.
I was happily surprised when I finally got my credit score. While I routinely check out Credit Karma, and review my Free Annual Credit Reports, I never take advantage of the up sell on the score itself since it doesn’t matter right now (not moving anytime soon, have no CC debt and not buying a car).
Did you participate in the Class Action Suit? Have you received your settlement?
Finally got a reply ,if you did not get a rejection letter you still in the lawsuit.But Transunion is putting up a fight and the lawyers have to prove the transgression by transunion.Then they will settle for the amount soon in spring they said .But its summer now….
I received a notice that said “2nd notificiation” (not sure where the first one went??), and they said that TU settled for cash and that only the first 13250 would get the same amount of cash, $43.00. HOWEVER…the attorney will be getting $243.00 of it, so as usual, even though they do little, suffer nothing, they get the bulk. It is the only reason that class actions are filed. the attorneys know the individually people can’t afford to do what can be done, so they bump u all the charges, take the big bucks, and give the peons something to appease them. They laugh all the way to the bank. Attorneys have created a complex legal system to support themselves, not to improve justice or do what is right. We need to steamline the justice system so that we can pursue justice and keep the money ourselves. I am sick & tired of the ‘attorney middlemen” who are millionaires and billionaires while we receive chicken scratch for our suffering. (this case was not “suffering” per say, just a point for other cases of cars failures with wrongful death, etc).
Oops! sorry, I meant to type
$443.00 per person, not $43.00. either way, I don’t see any thousands going out as noted before by someone. If they are getting $75 million, and are only giving 13,250 people $443.00 each, minus their fees, which states in my agreement won’t be more than $243.00 (yup…they get most even of that), then that leaves $69, 130,250.00 for the attorneys, and THAT IS BEFORE they take their share of each $443.00…??? Something is very wrong here! there is no end to the greed of corporate attorneys. If there are three principals in the company, that’s about $23 million apiece. Not bad for a days work that mostly junior members did!!!
By the way there are only 104 thousand people total from all law firms that are being represented by lawyers against trans union,To get a total of 75 million dollars thats about a few thousands of dollars each
will get …Hopefully soon i hope
So all 104,000 of us can expect the check after the lawyers take a bunch about $1.00
Which is why I jumped on the offer of one free year of Credit Monitoring
my understanding is that the vast majority of that 104,000 did not receive a monetary award so….those of us that jumped onboard at the very end can probably expect (just a guess, I’m nobody) around a couple of hundred up to a thousand depending on how many times Transunion gave out your info.
All the people who signed up before 9/24/08 are waiting a long time and should receive there benefit before those who signed up at the end. I am sure there will be many complaints if that does not happen.
I’ll be happy if I get anything. I mean really, its more than I had before. I know how serious this can be. I’m a fraud analyst for a major financial institution.
I have been waiting to here from this lawsuit now since forever. I check my mail and e-mail every single day since the day I sign up, and no respond.
I also was offered and accepted the monetary settlement option of 443.00 of which I would get 200.00(there was no credit monitoring in my options. Just accept or not). I got my documents stating that my e-sig was accepted, here is your signed agreement and that, was that… This was months ago and nary a word since. No emails, no checks (I verified my mailing address, blah, blah, blah. Sent the attorney several emails weeks ago. No response. Finally called the office last week. Well, I was NOT one of the 13,250 even though I responded the same day I got it. I am in ‘group 2′ now and probably won’t see anything. The long and short of it is that a week AFTER I called the attorney and read him the riot act for not communicating my status and after getting my group 2 status verbally, they FINALLY answered my email inquiries yesterday. Big whoop! Here’s the text of the email: I still don’t know why I was relegated to ‘group 2′…”Thank you for your email. We received your acceptance of TransUnion’s offer. Unfortunately, you were not among the first group of 13,250 from whom TransUnion accepted paperwork. However, TransUnion assigned you to Group 2 of the settlement. This was out of our hands; therefore, we cannot speak as to why you were not in Group 1 of the settlement. As soon as TransUnion receives court approval to fund Group 2, the process for distributing of such monies will begin. We are expecting the court to rule by September 2011. We do not have any information at this time as to the exact amounts of the payments or time limits on when things will be settled; however, we will notify you as soon as we obtain more information.There is no further action required of you at this time. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx [I took out the phone number].Thank you for your patience with this matter.Sincerely,”So here I sit not knowing what group 2 is or why I was bumped there or why. Am I going to be bumped to ‘group 3′ the next go ’round and so on and so on?
I just reviewed and accepted the offer, it is $443 minus the law firm fees but guaranteed at least $200 according to the document.
Did you receive this in your regulare email or spam?
Scott, when did they email you the offer? I’ve not seen anything on it yet.
I just got mine today Lisa 06/17/2011
All right! Got mine and accepted; the confirmation email to complete the process is slow in coming, though, but I need to practice patience anyhow LOL.
I RECEIVED ESIGN FOR 443 LESS ATTY FEES OUTLINED IN CRS AND IT ALSO STATED THAT YOU CAN VIEW THE CRS REPORT FOR DETAILED INFO BUT IT DIDNT LET ME ACCESS IT.
I TOOK THE 200 ANYWAYS BUT 70 MIL AND 69K PEOPLE INVOLVED(as per atty)thats more than 200 but fee is 45% and discribed after you esign?did i get taken?my name and reports were on the list too!
I look at it as found money; I don’t feel taken at all, but that all depends on your perspective.
Got mine yesterday and agreed to the $443. I didn’t notice the attorney fees part, but free money is free money so I’m happy.
Received my acceptance letter today. Took the money. Hey it’s free(sort of).
First thought it was a scam, but apparently not. $200 is $200.
I got my agreement today to sign but it did not ask me for my SSN anywhere? maybe they took that part off because people were reluctant?
I agreed to the $443 last night. I love when good things come from my past!
Is the Trans Union class action lawsuit that you people referring to this one located at the site below?
https://www.listclassaction.com/
I signed up back in 2008 and chose to received a free six month subscription to TransUnion and to received any cash settlement. But I have not heard anything about getting any money yet. If this is the same lawsuit, was the offer sent in the mail? Any help is appreciated.
After reading more of the previous posts and doing some googling I believe that those here who recieved an offer was for individual lawsuits and not for the class action lawsuit that I joined. Am I correct?
Got a call today from a lawyer saying he was representing me in a class action suit against Trans union. I am going to reject trans union’s offer and sue them just to tie them up in court. This corporation knew better but violated the law because of greed.
Well that makes a lot of sense – you’ll spend more in legal fees in 2 hours then you’ll ever possibly get back from the company.
hahahah
It is not about the money it will cost trans union more than me. Trans union has already amited their guilt by offering a settlement. I just want to these leaches of society to pay. I also intend to ask for attorneys fees.
Did you notice the part where it states:
“If you do not promptly accept or reject Trans Union’s cash offer to you, we may withdraw from your representation, and if we withdraw, you will be compelled to find substitute counsel or represent yourself in your Lawsuit, as defined below”?
Unless you have SOLID PROOF that you were PERSONALLY affected, in a NEGATIVE manner, by a SPECIFIC action on TU’s part, rejecting the settlement will almost certainly result in being dropped by the law firm and you would be hard pressed to find another firm to take the case on contingency, making your rejection would be done in vain and TU will end up getting off free and clear in your particular case.
I think they should face serious repercussions for what they did too, but I have absolutely no documented proof that I was personally and negatively affect by the actions of TU between 1987-2001. Considering there are very few people that would be able to provide that kind of documentation, $443 is the BEST offer most people will receive. It certainly beats the “free credit monitoring” they initially offered (that many people actually accepted).
I’m much more bothered by the fact that the lawyers will be keeping $243 of each accepted settlement. That’s almost 55% (on top of the money TU will be paying DIRECTLY to the attorneys). This is the reason I hate class actions suits. In 95% of the cases, the individuals actually affected usually receive a nominal pittance, which is rarely in the form of actual money, while the lawyer receive millions.
I would suggest everyone that has ever been a member of a multimillion dollar class action suit and received settlements like coupons or “free” services and/or merchandise band together against the class action attorneys that are keeping the cash part of the settlements for themselves, but I imagine it may be quite difficult to find a qualified class action attorney to take a case against class action attorneys.
Transunion settlement I’m taking the money they said they would drop me as a client if i did not settle and I do not have to hire a attorney $200.00 bucks is better than nothing
I received the offer letter a couple of weeks ago and was offered the 443. I was wondering if some of the people were going to hold out to see if they could get a larger chunk of the pie? Not everyone will respond to the emailings, and how much more of the pie could one get? And how long again would it take to hear from the Lawyers? I signed up last year and it has been about 9 months ago til I received this offer.
I received my letter on yesterday June 22 2011 and I accepted the $443.00 while reading over the documents I saw nothing that said I would only get $200.00 out of the deal. And from previous lawsuits the lawyers usually take their chunk of money off top and whatever is left over gets split up among the rest of the claimants. But whatever the case free money is free money any day
Actually it says that you will pay 35 dollars for court fees, 25 dollars for the electronic signature, and 45% in attorney fees. But it also says that it can’t be lower than 223 I believe.
This is something that I know a little about if 10or20 or more poeple lock it up with T/U in court the payout could be a lot more if said poeple’s fined a law firm to have ago on a % fee the lawyer’s will take 33/3% that leave’s 66.2/3s% to the ones that hang with it,also bare in mind that they are going to settle out and that my fellow american’s is a guilty plea,also the letters that were sent by those lawyers only tell us what they want you to beleive that its for the best,it is FOR THE LAWYERS who only want to help us help them to are just due’s laws were blatantly broken and trans union is well awear of this so there is why they are making the 75.000.000 offer to make it right,The letter states that you may have to pay court costs and att fees so its best to take the deal because trans union will drag it out 1,2 or 20 years so the lawyers advise take the money its in your best intrest.they use our names for monetary gain&greed with no thought of what we would be put throught at the very least transunion and there affiliates are without adoubt laible for defimation of character of the masses if not then i ask you why then do they make the offer!United We Stand dividide we short sell ourselves,
Steven, be that as it may be, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and I intend to keep my hand firmly around the settlement amount….if you would like to pursue your line of thought in the courts, knock yourself out, dude. Count me OUT.
I received my letter concerning this so-called “settlement” last week and I accepted it of course. However this week I got another email from this law firm that’s representing us in this lawsuit stating that they are going to get roughly half of the $443.00 we are supposed to get; leaving us roughly $200.00. Now just like another poster said in any class action lawsuit the lawyers already get their fee off the top. Any law firm worth their salt is going to make damn sure that some kind of provision concerning their fee is included in any settlement proceeding. Just like another poster stated I didn’t find out about this until after I esigned the acceptance letter. I mean free money is free money but I don’t think these lawyers should be getting paid twice.
I got and e-signed my settlement yesterday ($443 less $243 atty fees).
Any idea how long it takes to get?
Kay, I called and spoke to a Rep. at the Law Firm, he said that it would take until Oct. to receive the funds.
Thanks Ken!
Kay, I had the same questions and I am thankful that Ken was able to reply with an estimated date. I figured that whether it is 100$ or more it is better then nothing and that TransUnion has admitted their guilt in this. Thanks again, I thought that because it was taking so long that it was some sort of scam, but they never asked for any money and I researched it, so I guess any money is good. Thanks
I received aphone call tonight about this but the website address they gave me doesn”t exist. Does any one have the adress to contact.
I received the same letter but when will they mail the checks?
i need to know when i’ll receive my money of the settlement if any. Please let me know because i didn,t receive any mail about it
I was contacted relative to settlement and promised 443.00. I accepted within 24 hours. Got a second email over a month and a half later advising me to accept as it was “first come, first served”. It seemed as if the attorneys did not acknowledge my first acceptance to the their first email. I was told I was not in the first group of claimants after all but assured me I would probably be paid. Really, never heard of a class action being handled in this manner. I am filing a complaint with the State Bar Association against this group. They appear to be a disreputable firm. Surprise.
I received an e-mail on August 5, 2011 stating that I was part of the Group 1 Settlement, and to expect my check 2-7 days.
I received a phone call the day before yesterday telling me that I’d been selected by TransUnion as one of the recipients of the first phase of payouts, and that my settlement package, including my settlement check, was mailed to the address on record and should be received within the week. We’ll see! Like many have said, money is money, and I’m not at all upset with the amount they’re keeping. I would have never known about this money otherwise.
Received my check today for $209.75. Not alot of money, but I didn’t do much to get it either. Money is money.
Pam have u tried to get it cashed? I called the bank and it told me there was no money in the account. My check was for 209.75 as well.
Same here. Got the check & called the bank. No funds.
May I ask which law firm you all went with, and which bank the checks were written on?
Watts Guerra Craft LLP and bank is BBVA Compass
Dang it, that’s who I went with…has anyone called them to see why they are sending out bouncy checks? As soon as I get mine I’m getting on the phone and giving somebody H-E-L-L!
Have tried left a message and I also turned them in to bbb. So maybe I will get something done that way.
Oh, wow! That is so bogus! So, basically, this company ran off with ALL of the money, and passing along bad checks…We need to sue them!!! There may be more money owed to us than they are saying…
I turned them into the better business bureau so im going to see what happens that way
and I demanded the full 443.00 that was settled for, maybe if everyone started turning them in it would help.
I just called BBVA Compass after getting my check and they told me that it is good.
That’s because I spoke with the accounting department at the offices of the attorney & made them aware & they got back to me an hour later stating the bank had made an error & the funds were noe released. The bank also verified this.
Awesome! Well thanks for that, Brandy..it’s appreciated.
They said it was the 1St they had heard of it, & I told them the bank & the internet was blowing up.
I spoke to the law offices this morning and told them what I was hearing of the checks not being good, and they assured me that there had been a bank error and that the funds were in fact there. I also gave them the information for this site so they can correct any other erroneous information that was there.
Got my check cashed a little bit ago at check into cash. They took 6 and a few cents off of it but I still got the majority of it.
I received my check on 8/9/11. Deposited it into my Savings Account today…Woohoo!
Lucky you….
I accepted the settlement and even though I accepted within 30 minutes of getting the email I just got an email stating that I somehow was not in the first 13250 or so, so I am in Group 2.
This means I have to wait for court approval to get money (which means I may see nothing…the settlement agreement only seems to cover the first 13250.)
I also get no option to sue now since I accepted it. I feel ripped off on this deal.
@Ann: Sorry to hear that…If you were in Group 2. There may be a possibility that you won’t get anything. You should call the Law Office to find out.
Watts just contacted me at home and work apologizing profusely about their “Hiccup.”
Yep, I may not get squat and lost my chance to have a lawyer sue them and actually get something.
Makes me mad…I had accepted this deal on June 17 as soon as I got the email and I got stuck in group 2.
Note to self…don’t bother accepting class actions in the future. Just do it yourself.
They told me the court has to give them permission to pay people in group 2. That won’t happen until at least September.
When I sent an email back asking if I was going to get anything at all and whether I am still bound by the settlement because I probably won’t get anything I got no response.
Hey Ann, i am in the same boat as you and really pissed off. i e-mailed my response back to them as soon as i received the notice. This stinks because we will never know why we didn’t get in group 1. who made that determination as to what group we are in. we cannot prove it but i believe we both won’t see any money. i recived a notice tody august 12 that i am in group 2. this sucks big time
Any idea when i may get a check ? Anything i didnt work for is a Blessing. Thanks!!!
I just went to the credit monitoring settlement site and got the following message!
Forbidden
You don’t have permission to access /sos/html/index.jsp on this server.
Apache Server at settlement.transunion.com Port 80
I guess the free monitoring is over!
Thought it was a scam however was careful filling out the form about a year ago from “Watts Guerra Craft” recieved today settlement $443.00 and check to me 209.75 Wow